Improvement in stoppings for horses  feet



UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIoE.

ALBERT S. WILKINSON, OF PAWTUOKET, RHODE ISLAND.

IMPROVEMENT IN STOPPINGS FOR HORSES FEET.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 57,611, dated August 28, 1866.

To all whom it may concern Beit known that l, ALBERT S. WILKINSON, of Pawtucket, Providence county, State of Rhode Island, have invented new and Improved Stoppings and Devices for Securing the same to the Feet of Animals; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full. clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which Figure l shows an improved sponge stopping. Fig. 2 is a stopping formed by a rubber air-cushion, being hollow and having air confined within. Fig. 3 is a rubber stoppin g attached to a rubber plate by which the stopping is secured to the shoe.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts.

In that portion ofthe foot of a horse which comprises the space between the heels and inst in front of the cleft of the frog, and immediately over the center of that space, lies the vermicular joint, which is compelled to sustain one-halt' of the whole weight of the horse alternately with that of the other foot at every movement he makes, and this is the seat of nine-tenths of the chronic lameness to which he is liable; and consequently the soles of horses feet have many ailments that require stoppings, the putting in of some medicament or substance to cure disease, to soften the substance of the sole, to bring back its elasticity, to protect it from injury., to cool and allay fever and indammation, Src.

Devices adopted for these purposes are various, and are generally extremely rude-such as soft wet clay, serviceable only while it is wet, or wet clay and cow-dung, tow mixed with tar or grease, all of which answer the purpose for a time, but soon dry and become hard or get crowded out of place, so as to bear unevenly, when they become injurious. These stoppings are held in sometimes by cross-sticks and such devices that the horse meanwhile cannot be worked at all, or at best by a plate of felt or leather laid over and nailed on withthe shoe, so that the stoppings in that case, whether good or bad, hard or andcannot get crowded out ot' place, and also to provide a method for protecting the sole of the foot and secure the stoppings thereto insuch manner that the horse or animal vmay be worked without injury to the stoppings or to the foot, the whole being so constructed as to be readily removed or adjusted thereto, and also to provide modifications of these devices, which are to be attached to the shoe in a per' manent manner, so as to act as preventives by shielding the sole of the sound foot from injury.

My invention consists in providing a sponge stopping which is so shaped as to correctlyll the hollow of the foot, and having a V-shaped notch cut in its rear side, which tits onto the sharp point of the frog and holds the sponge from getting crowded out of place; also, in a similar-shaped air-cushion, or vsolid rubber cushion, having a rubber iiange for securing it to the shoe, and having a ap on its rear side for drawing up behind the heel to prevent dirt, &c., from entering at the heel between t-he stopping and the foot.

Having described the nature of my invention, I will proceed to describe its construetion and operation.

A, Fig. 1, in the accompanying drawings is a sponge stopping, correctly fitted to till the hollow of' the foot, and has a V-shaped notch, a, cut into its rear side.

B, Fig. 2, is a rubber air-cushion stopping, and has a notch or recess, b, in its rear side for fitting onto the front edge of the frog of the foot.

O, Fig. 3, is a rubber stopping or cushion, which is attached to a web, D D, for securing the cushion to the shoe, and also has a heelilap, (l.

rEhe sponge stoppingA and air-cushion stopping B can at no time become hard or get crowded out of place. If the air-cushion B should get accidentally pricked, it may then be iilled with sponge for giving support and for holding moisture, the same as Vsponge stopping A. The rubber stopping C may be made solid, or may be made hollow and haveair confined within. The part c, which covers the bottom of the frog, may be in all cases made of a thickness sufficient to give the frog a practical bearing upon the ground, the rubber at this point being of a considerable thickness where the frog is shrunken from misuse, or has been cut out by the fari-ier in his efforts to remodel and improve the designs of nature. To the cushion stopping C and its web or ange D D is also added a heelflap, d, which is to be fastened up behind the heel, to prevent sand and grit from entering at the heel and getting iu between the stopping and the sole Aof the foot.

Having thus described iny invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A sponge stopping, A, having a V-shaped recess, ct, out in its rear edge for receiving the frog of the foot, substantially in the manner and for the purpose specified.

2. An air-cushion stopping, B, substantially in the manner and for the purpose set forth.

3. An elasticpad stopping, C, of rubber, constructed either solid or hollow, and secured in place by a web, D D, substantially in the manner and for the purpose set forth.

4. A heel-Hap, d, attached to a web covering the sole of the foot, constructed and operating substantially in the manner and for the purpose described.

ALBERT S. WILKINSON.

Witnesses:

W. W. BLODGETT, WILLIAM W. REND. 

